Floor cart



G. R. DAVIS.

FLOOR CART.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I6, I921.

1,427,583, Patented Aug. 29, 1922..

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

G. R. DAVIS.

noon cm.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 15, 192il,427,583, Patented Aug. 29, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. F I 05 more STATES.

FATNT FLOUR CART.

1 427 583 Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 29, TSZZ.

Application filed September 16, 1921. Serial No. 501,169.

T 0 (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marlboro, in the county ofMiddleseX and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new: and useful Improvements in Floor Carts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to propellable devices for facilitating scrubbing or working on floors and particularly to such devices which, while so constructed as to keep the Worker clean and dry, are readily portable. Such a device I designate a floor-cart.

Devices of this character have been proposed heretofore but so far as I am aware the constructions are not such as to provide the greatest ease to the worker, nor are they splash-proof. The object of the present invention is to provide a splash-proof floorcart which is so constructed as readily to be carried from place to place as may be required. A further object of the invention is to provide a floor-cart which gives the greatest comfort in a kneeling posture, while at the same time permitting the worker easily to propel it by pressure of the toes on the floor or other surface being worked on.

To the accomplishment of these objects the invention comprises the features and combinations of parts hereinafter described and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a perspective of the floor-cart ready for use; Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view with the sides collapsed; Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view with the sides raised and partly in section; and Fig. i is a sectional view on the line H of Fig. 3.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings a rectangular base frame is formed of two fiat side pieces 6 and 8, a front piece 10 and a rear piece 12, which are secured together at the corners in any suitable or convenient manner. VVithin the two side pieces 6 and 8, and secured thereto, are two longitudinal stiffeners 14: and 16 which conveniently may be shaped as shown on Fig. i, i. c. with a horizontal lower edge and an oblique upper edge, sloping downwardly from the rear to the front of the cart. These stiffeners serve as supports for the floor 18 and also provide sufficient bearing surface for the ball-bearing casters 20, of which there are four, one at each corner of the base frame.

Hinged to the side pieces 6 and 8 are side or splash-boards 22 and 2 1 and a similar splash-board 26 is hinged to the front piece 10. It will be observed thatthe height of the front piece 10 is less than that of the slde pieces so that when the front splashboard 26 is folded down, as in Fig. 2, it will. lie below the level of the upper edges of said side pieces (see dotted lines Fig. 4;). The side splash-boards when folded down will then lie flat on the folded down front splashboard. The entire cart is so designed that the splash-boards are of ample height to fully protect the clothing, yet they are less than half the width of the cart,'so that when the entire device is collapsed it presents a comparatively fiat article that can easily be carried under the arm. Fasteners of a convenient form such as the hooks and screws 28 (dotted lines Fig. 3), are provided to maintain the splash-boards in their raised position when the cart is in use.

A soap-holder 30 may be hinged to one frame side piece and held in horizontal position by a latch 32. This holder is folded down, as shown in Fig. 2, when the cart is to be transported. A cushion 3a is placed loosely on the kneeling-floor, and this may be packed in the open space beneath the floor when the cart is collapsed for trans portation purposes.

Particular attention is directed to the sloping kneeling-floor 18. It is important that the floor of the cart be as near the surface to be worked upon as possible to obviate strain in leaning over to reach said surface. Since the cart is to be propelled by the toes, the ankle is at a fixed height and higher than the desired position of the floor of the cart. If the kneelingloor 18 is made horizontal the weight of the workers body is supported wholly by the knees causing excessive strain and discomfort. In the present invention, however, the kneeling floor is sloped to such an extent that when the worker kneels on the cushion 34: the entire lower leg is pressed upon and supported, thus sustaining the body weight without excessive strain. The height of the rear edge of the 'kneelingfloor is such that the toes are in position to enthe floor, or other surface, andbe used as the cart propelling agent. In commercial practice the cart will be made in different sizes and proportions to meet all requirements.

The advantage of the high splash-boards will be apparent to all housewives and the convenience of the collapsing feature is particularly important to scrub women who find it necessary to carry the cart from place to place. From the foregoing description it will be understood that the floor-cart may be used to advantage not only for scrubbing, painting or finishing floors, but also may be used in laying tile floors and the like.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated and the preferred embodiment of the invention having been specifically described, what is claimed as new, is

1. A floor-cart comprising a rectangular base frame, a kneeling-floor supported thereby forming a hollow bottom to said frame, folding splash-boards on three sides of said frame, a cushion receivable on said floor when the splash-boards are raised and within the hollow bottom when the splash-boards are folded down, a soap holder hinged on said frame for folding thereagainst when the cart is to be transported, and means for retaining the soap-holder in position to hold soap when the cart is in use.

2. A portable floor-cart having a box-like frame comprising four walls, a kneelingfloor rigidy supported Within said frame below the top edges of the side walls and the front wall to thereby form cushion abutments above the kneeling-floor and also form a four-wall open cavity below the kneelingfloor, a cushion adapted to be removably supported on the kneeling-floor and abut said abutments when thereon and to be removable therefrom and inserted in the aforesaid cavity below the kneeling floor when the cart is to be compacted, and splash-boards hinged respectively to the upper edges of said abutments and adapted to fold inwardly upon the kneeling-floor when the aforesaid cushion is removed therefrom, means being provided for detachably locking the adjacent edges of the splash-boards together when erected for use.

GEORGE R. DAVIS. 

